


Serious Baggage

by KailynBail



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M, Forbidden Relationships, Protectiveness, Reluctant, Smut, a different kind of Hawke, baggage, it is what it is, the other side of aveline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 08:17:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11755767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KailynBail/pseuds/KailynBail
Summary: She didn't know where he stood... hell, she didn't know where she stood when it came to their... relationship. The list of things she didn't know was quickly outgrowing the list of things she did... and the feeling she was starting to have for the Ferelden apostate wasn't helping matters in the slightest, especially since she was pretty damned sure she was going to burn for ever thinking of him that way. But, the one thing she did know... without a doubt... was that they both came with some serious baggage.[This isn't technically over but it is at a good stopping point, so I'm currently calling it done so it doesn't sit here and look unfinished. I mean, it *is* unfinished, but at least it's at a good break point with a bit of a step off into some more writing, so it's on the back burner for now but yeah, sort of at a point where it could be called finished... sort of.]





	1. Chapter 1

Malcolm held onto one of her shoulders, his face burred in her nape, muffling the sound of his own exertions while his other hand gripped the top edge of his mattress in a white-knuckle hold. He felt her nails scores his back, causing his spine to twist, his hips snapping, her own pleasure filled cry silenced against his shoulder, where he felt her starting to rake her teeth over his sweat slicked skin… she was close. He widened his stance, his knees splitting further, giving himself more room, he drove in deeper, hitting all the right spots he knew so damned well by now. His brow held low, lip curling, wanting to bare his teeth each time his hips met hers, the springs in his bed protesting quietly as she urged him to go _faster_. She came undone a moment later, biting down on his shoulder _hard_ to quiet herself. His tenor trapped in his throat as he crowded her further, both knees leaping towards her at the same time, his hand diving down to grip her rear, pulling her up to meet him as his pace hastened. His back bowed, abdomen curled, breath sawed, brow rocked up on the mattress as he felt that heavy sensation settling in his groin… he clawed at her, his hand quickly forming a fist behind her, muscles starting to tremble as he approached that abysmal edge. He let loose a rough curse, ragged and low, barely a whisper, a rush of air in all reality when he jerked out of her, his hand diving further beneath her, around her leg, a grip he surged against as he came against the roughness of the sheet. His other hand leapt down, fingers tangling in her hair, keeping her against him, desperate in that moment to feel her as close as was allowed. It was on the tip of his tongue to utter her name… but he never did. _Aveline._ The last of his seed spent, he untangled himself, she shifted, he bunched some of the top sheet off his hips and covered what he’d done, the evidence of their lust-fueled ritual. He collapsed down on the bed between her and the wall, arm thrown over as he watched her sit up, slide to the edge… and start getting dressed. She wouldn’t stay, he knew that… she never did. He lifted his head off the pillow that was saturated with her scent and brushed his hair down in a futile attempt to tame it, unnaturally blue eyes flicking up to stare at the derelict ceiling before he cleared his throat, keeping his voice low as to not wake Morgan or his Mother… he couldn’t give two shits about Gamlen and Carver wasn’t home from work yet, thus his bed laid empty still. “Tell Brenan that I haven’t forgotten about that patrol, I’ll head out to the Storm Coast first thing… later.” He was going to say in the morning… but the paling sky that was starting to peek in through the barely covered windows told him that it was already that time of day.

Aveline nodded as she stood up, tugging her pants up the rest of the way, cinching the buckle over. “Will do.” She said just as low. She had been on the night shift… so she had the day to sleep. She hadn’t meant to come over here… just like she hadn’t meant to come over here a few days ago… or the week before… or the month before… she shook her head at herself. _Malcolm Hawke_. “Get some sleep, Hawke.” She made a quiet exit, passing the snoring Mabari on her way out. She didn’t wait for his farewell, though she heard him mumble something along the lines of _yeah, sure_. She didn’t dally as she made her way back to High-town… and further… the barracks were bustling with the shift change, she greeted those who greeted her and passed on Hawke’s message dutifully. She didn’t let her mind start berating her until she was in the showers. _Malcolm Hawke._ She shook her head at herself _again_. The Ferelden _apostate_. The man who put an end to her husband’s suffering… but driving a blade into his heart. And here she was… not a year and a half later… sleeping with him. Hell, she wished she was just sleeping with him… she hadn’t actually done that but one time, when she’d been so exhausted afterwards that she had actually fallen asleep in his bed. He’d been nice enough to let her rest… still. It didn’t excuse her behavior. She was pretty damn sure that Wesley was glaring at her from the Maker’s side. She couldn’t even say that Malcolm was her _friend_ in the strictest sense of the word. She barely saw him outside of the occasional job that he did for the guard… and of course, whenever she stopped by his house… or she walked outside the door of the Keep and saw him standing there, leaning against one of the pillars… _alone_. It wasn’t like he advertised their… arrangement… either. She didn’t blame him. She knew… more than she liked to about the man. And the one big thing she knew about him… was that he didn’t let anyone get too close. She didn’t know if he had been different before she met him, but that was how he was now and had been since. She remembered the first time _it_ happened. She’d been drunk… extremely drunk. It’d been exactly one year since Wesley died… and she’d gotten good and drunk. And Hawke had been there… at the Hanged Man. He was on a rare night off… still under Mercer’s thumb… drinking with some of his crew… when he eased in beside her at the bar, cutting off a few idiots who thought they could hit on her. She’d been grateful and he’d been… concerned. He’d gently taken the glass away from her and paid her tab before trying to escort her back to the barracks… she’d refused to go back there. So… Hawke took her to his place, intent on letting her sleep it off. He was pretty deep in the bottle too… and the next thing she knew, she was waking up with his heavy arm around her waist… with nothing between them and one hell of a hangover. She’d felt like utter shit over that… especially considering what day it had been. She’d snuck out without even waking him. It took a few days before he came around… and she cursed him inside her own head for looking like someone had kicked his damn puppy when he apologized to her. Deep down, she knew that Malcolm was actually a good guy… she knew _why_ he’d done what he’d done… and why he’d taken on that burden… so she wouldn’t have to. But… it was still… damning. She went to him a week later… lonely. That’s how it all started. Since then… there hadn’t been two weeks that had gone by that she hadn’t been with him. She’d seen him deny so many advances though… she had tried to talk to him, tell him that he shouldn’t… because what they were doing wasn’t serious. It couldn’t go anywhere. He’d just get this veiled look on his face and tell her that he knew that… and that he’d appreciate her butting out of his personal business. And _none_ of that held a candle to the other bit of his _personal business_ that stood to barely reach the man’s waist, had his baring… and his affinity for magic if recent events were to be trusted. _Morgan_. Malcolm’s son. When the Hawke family first came upon her and Wesley amongst those blighted creatures, she hadn’t even _seen_ the boy, Leandra had him hidden so well. But when Wesley had started in about the _Order dictates…_ bless him, the young child had attempted to rush her husband, crying out that he wouldn’t _take his Papa._ The child’s tear stained face was one she’d never forget… he had been desperate and almost inconsolable but had a bravery that she later saw... came from Malcolm. When Bethany was taken… she could still remember the boy’s soft cries as he held her hand while Leandra wailed her anger at Malcolm. And then later, when Malcolm… ended Wesley’s suffering… it was Morgan’s hand he reached for once it was done, pulling his son up into his arms with a solemn look. She hadn’t paid attention then, too deep in her grief… but she had heard the two of them speak. Morgan had said low _It’s okay, Daddy…_ and Malcolm had put on a brave smirk and told his son not to worry about these things, that he was just fine. On the ship that bore them to Kirkwall, Aveline didn’t see the man who killed her husband. She saw a father… worried… and fearful as he held his son tight against his side, an untrusting eye cast to _any_ who drew too close. Now… the boy spent most of his time with Leandra, since Malcolm worked as much as any apostate could… to put food on the table and clothes on _all_ of their backs, even Carver… since _that_ boy spent his coin on anything _but_ food and clothing. When it came to her and their… private… business… Malcolm was always careful. He was no healer but he _was_ a mage… there were no _precautionary_ spells, or mages would have no accidental children in Thedas, but he could tell when her body was… accepting. He’d turn her away during those times… and he never finished within her otherwise. She had asked once… where Morgan’s mother was… he’d shut her down right quick and in a hurry but the look in his eyes, there for that brief moment, had said it all. She was gone. She’d prodded Leandra, gently… and from her learned that Malcolm’s _wife_ had been their first casualty during the blight, only hours before they found herself and Wesley.


	2. Chapter 2

Aveline pursed her lips as she considered her next words carefully. “Watch out for Bartrand, he’s a real son-of-a-bitch.” She leaned against her new desk… guard-captain was still a title she was getting used to. She watched as Malcolm straightened his spine… “I’m saying this as your friend, Hawke. But, maybe you should reconsider this expedition, you have responsibilities—“ She didn’t get much else out.

Malcolm’s expression had already started to go bored when she started in on that whole _friend_ thing. It shifted into flat-out-hard as hell warning when she hit the word responsibilities. “I know you didn’t just go there.” He had folded his arms over his chest, his armor creaking with the action as he widened his stance, eyes snapping in warning as he pinned her with a glacial look.

Avelina sighed as she came out of the lean, lowering her voice and trying to look… less threatening though… with the armor… and weaponry… damn it, she should have waited to talk about this but it was already in progress now. “It’s just… Malcolm… are you sure this is a good idea? I know you’ve got the coin together… you could use that, leave Kirkwall… make a new life for you and Mor—“ She pulled up when he all but charged at her, dwarfing her, his nose damn near brushing her own as he seethed.

Malcolm was sent careening into a world of pissed of the likes of which he hadn’t been in a very long time. A muscle jumped in his jaw as he shifted his weight aggressively. “Don’t think for one fucking minute that you have any right to suggest _anything_ regarding me or my son and how we live.” His eyes flicked between her own as he pressed his lips together in a thin line, trying to reign his temper in… and barely succeeding. “We’re not friends, Aveline… we’re not lovers… I don’t need to spell out the particulars of our relationship to you, if it can even be called that.” He felt the tremor in the fine muscles around his lips as he tried to keep his tenor low. “Until the day comes when you see the sun rise from my bed? Keep your fucking opinions to yourself.” He turned away from her in the next heartbeat, another moment and he was jerking her office door open, another… hitting the stairs, up and into the rest of the keep… a few later and he was outside into the semi-fresh air of High-town, where he allowed himself a deeper breath to calm his fraying nerves. She didn’t understand… how could she? She was… a guard captain! She had herself a nice shiny new apartment here in High-town, she didn’t have to worry about… fucking _Templars_ breaking down _her_ door every damn night… taking that which she loved the most from her… or being taken herself! She didn’t understand that he could take this hundred gold and turn it into an amount that could choke a mule team… use that to buy _status_ … something he could hide the both of them behind. A gilded shield to protect them from the gallows. She… didn’t understand, she couldn’t. He wished… she could. But… hell, that’d never fucking happen. He knew who he was to her… and he was okay with that… most nights. Others, he found himself being stupid and wishing that for once… she wouldn’t bite her lip when he heard the start of his name there. Others… he found himself not being able to watch her dress and sneak out before the sun hit the horizon. He scrubbed at his face and stopped by one of the High-town street carts and picked up a bag of those cloyingly sweet dates that Morgan favored… and made his way back to Low-town… _where he belonged_ , he sneered in his mind.

Aveline was left standing there in her office with a somewhat… confused expression. She wasn’t expecting that level of hostility… true, she expected him to be… cross. He always was whenever she attempted to prod him about anything he deemed personal, and his son was most definitely personal. But… he took that into a whole different area, didn’t he? He didn’t think them… friends? He… kind of had a point though, didn’t he? She supposed… whatever they were… it wasn’t friends and it wasn’t lovers but… what was that about there at the end? Until the day comes? Was he… did he… want her to stay with him when… she didn’t get the chance to ask or to even approach the subject he had left so fast. He had never made her feel… like she did in that moment. The tone in his voice when he said that… made her feel like… she _used_ him or something. Like she… made him feel… well… _used_. And that wasn’t… was it? She was even more perplexed. She scoffed and turned around, sat down behind her desk with a heavy sigh. She had started this trying to talk some sense into him! Now she was being forced to look at whatever it was between them more closely?! What?!


	3. Chapter 3

Malcolm was lounging on the _porch_ , Lottie, his Mabari, laid out under his legs, since he had his feet propped up on the railing. It was late… everyone save for Carver and Gamlen were already in bed. Carver being at work and Gamlen being… well, most likely at the Rose. He scrubbed at his face, his drink teetering on his thigh, held loosely by his other hand. Hooded eyes looked out over their quarter, watching as some of the ladies drug their older children inside… smirking as they protested… as some of the men drug themselves home from work at the quarry or the docks… as the guards made their rounds through… as Aveline… he blinked, snapped out of his perusal. His expression hardened as he watched her climb the stone steps and pause just there at the top, looking at him with… hell, he wasn’t sure. He took another drink, but before he set the rim of the glass to his lips, he spoke, his tenor muffled into the cup. “What do you want?”

Aveline tugged at her coat nervously, settling her hand on the railing, looking him over. He was torn down for the night, boots, pants, tank top style undershirt and nothing more. His long hair was still pulled back into the two style ponytail he always wore it in, the sides shaved as usual, which always gave him a fiercer appearance, a fact she suspected he utilized. She tapped at the railing and made a face… he was still cross with her, as she suspected he would be. Malcolm could hold a grudge like nobody’s business. “You didn’t let me say much earlier.” She said with a perk of her auburn brows, her own hair let down from the tail she usually wore. She wore common clothes, her armor gone for the night, since she was captain now… she didn’t work nights anymore.

Malcolm held the liquor in his lower lip for a moment, scoffing through his nose quietly and shaking his head as he swallowed. “There was a reason for that.” He heard Lottie shift, stand, stretch, and head inside through the dog door he had fashioned shortly after they had arrived, much to Gamlen’s ire. _Traitor_ , he thought. He felt the bench protest as Aveline sat beside him… damn it.

Aveline pursed her lips as she sat down, adjusting her coat to do so. She felt… awkward… and it showed. She set her hands on her knees and sat rigidly for a moment before she reached, probably too fast, and took the hand he had resting on his thigh… laced her fingers with it and pulled it into her lap, covered their hands with her other and just sat there, looking out over the quarter, rigid otherwise.

Malcolm was about to take another drink when she took his hand… he blinked… frozen… cast a sidelong look at her as he lowered his glass slowly. He looked at their hands… his fingers naturally curled in their relaxed state… back up at her face and the rigid way she was sitting there. His lips forming a thin line as he blinked rapidly, brows going low… his expression full of _what the fuck_ … he opened his mouth to ask her what the hell she was doing but… she beat him to the whole speaking thing.

Aveline swallowed against the tension in her throat before she spoke, still not having the courage to quite look at him yet. “I blamed you. For a long time.” She took a shallow breath, feeling the sting hit her eyes. “I didn’t want to… I knew why it had to be done.” She worried her lower lip, feeling the tension climb in her throat, the burning sensation that made it difficult to breath. She hated that her vision started to swim, just there on the edges. “I was never… angry… with you though… I was angry with myself.” She gave a subtle nod… a single tear threatening to fall from her lower lashes. She gave a sad sort of smile when she felt his hand tighten around hers. “It should have been me to do it though.”

Malcolm’s expression eased into… a certain blank state when she started talking. He heard the way her breathing changed… the way her voice ebbed and flowed, her sorrow bleeding upon it. He couldn’t help but hold her hand with her admission, the last words though… he had already set his glass down. He shook his head slightly, his brow creasing. “No.” His tenor was held low; thus, it was filled with gravel when he spoke. “That was a burden… you didn’t need to carry. You could hate _me_ … I was a stranger. He was your husband… you didn’t need to know what it felt like to…” He let it hang, shaking his head again, looking out over the darkening quarter.

Aveline closed her eyes as a soft smile tugged at her over his words. He really was a good man… know that he was in his own grief at the time… it made her wonder if… “Is that what… did you… with Thalia?” She felt him stiffen beside her, she shifted closer, eyes still closed.

Malcolm closed his own eyes, pain slicing through him, he almost jerked his hand away but he felt her shift, felt her draw nearer. “No.” He swallowed roughly. “She was… in town… I saw her… when I came in from the fields, hearing the warning bells…” He cleared his throat, trying to alleviate the tension, and failing. “I like to think it was quick.” He said the last low, the memory of seeing his precious Thalia laying in the dirt, the diseased arrows sticking out of her back… he slammed his eyes shut tighter and shook his head sharply, forcing the memory away.

Aveline nodded, caressing the back of his hand lightly, feeling his muscles jump and twitch at the foreign sensation. “I’m sorry if you feel I over-stepped earlier, Malcolm… that was not my intention.”

Malcolm sighed heavily and wiped at his face roughly… shaking his head again before he turned his face towards her but did not yet look at her. “You can’t understand, Aveline.” He stressed her name, his brows shifting in confliction. “I know you have always lived your life on the other side of the line… but over here?” He questioned, his brows perking, forehead furrowing as he finally caught her eye. “I have to do something to protect him. Protect myself. And that takes a lot of gold if you don’t have the right name…” He gave her an almost pleading expression.

Aveline saw the near desperation hidden in his gaze. “But… in the smaller towns… the outlying areas… the Templar presence isn’t as—“

Malcolm gave her an almost pitying look. “My father tried that. Lothering is as remote as it comes, you know that.” He shook his head, lifting a hand and letting it fall, having already lowered his feet off the railing, letting his hand settle on his knee. “They still found him.” He didn’t elaborate, but a darkness passed through his gaze as sure as any cloud would across the sun. “I’ll not leave Morgan to that fate…” He said low, giving her a firm look. “This expedition can buy the security that my father never could… with it… we’ll be protected and I can finally take a breath.”

Aveline knew he was right… she couldn’t have understood, not this. She did now… but only by proxy. She didn’t _know_ the way that he did. And as that darkness passed through his eyes… worry did so through hers. “But… what if you don’t come back?” She said it so low, it was a wonder he heard her at all.

Malcolm’s features just… sort of… fell a little as he looked at her carefully. The only movement for a moment was the bobbing of his throat as he worked a swallow. Surely, she didn’t… care… did she? “I’ll come back.” He said it just as low… a whisper almost. He hadn’t even noticed how he leaned in, not until his other hand lifted, nearing her opposing cheek, his thumb brushing the skin softly.

Aveline shook her head slightly at his words. How could he know that though? That’s what her look said. He was so close she could feel his breath against her lips… her heart started to race. They had never… kissed before. It was… too personal. She leaned slightly and set her brow to his, moving her lips away from him as she let out a breath… she heard him do the same. The moment… slipping by. “You’d better.” Was all she said. She felt him pull away, set a chaste kiss to her brow before withdrawing from her entirely.

Malcolm felt that disappointment settle in his chest… but he didn’t let it fester. It was… what it was.


	4. Chapter 4

Malcolm stepped out of his Mother’s room… having just tucked Morgan in. The boy was… handling this very well. He knew he’d see him in the morning, for a few moments, before the expedition left. He looked at his Mother… the distance between them was a cavern, had been since Bethany… he just… couldn’t forgive her the words she’d flung at him in her grief. Even though she’d apologized… he just… couldn’t. “You’ll bring him… yeah?” She gave a nod… he dodged her hand when he passed her by as he made for the door. She knew he had to go to the dwarven quarter, he’d told her he’d be working most of the night to get ready. He waved her off when she tried to talk to him as he stepped out, having already told Lottie that she was to stay and watch Morgan.

He had his duffle on his back, his boots chewing up worn cobblestones as he made way to High-town. He wasn’t really paying attention to where he was going, the dwarven quarter his destination… before he knew it though, he was standing at Aveline’s front door. He blinked rapidly at himself, even going so far as to look behind him as if someone was going to be walking away, having been directing him here. He cleared his throat though… knowing she was here… he could sense her within. He lifted his fist… knowing… it was a horrible idea for him to be here. _Just… tell her that you stopped by to say farewell, do that, say goodbye… and head to the quarter._ He gave a firm nod and let his knuckles fall onto the smooth wood. He was looking behind him again when the door opened… he looked back into Aveline’s surprised eyes. His brows were slightly raised… his weight shifting as his lips peeled apart. She was… a beautiful sight. He swallowed down that thought and shuttered it away, blinking before he offered up a small smirk of a smile. “Hey.”

Aveline was surprised to see him standing there… he was… dressed for the road. She knew the expedition was leaving tomorrow… she had planned to bid him farewell tomorrow morning before they left. She’d thought about going to see him tonight but thought better of it, he needed his rest. But here he was. He looked… just about as surprised as she was that he was there. “… Hey.” She pulled the collar of her robe closer together before she sort of jerked all over and opened her door wider, letting him in. He walked past… smelling of alder and a blend of spices she never could quiet riddle out. In other words, freshly showered… she watched as he lowered his duffle down and set it by the wall, just there inside, his eyes moving around her living space. “What uh… what are you doing here?” She shut the door, throwing the lock over from habit alone.

Malcolm had only ever been here once… and that was with everyone else to check out her new digs. Now… he had a chance to really see it, lived in. She had candles lit… the entire space screamed _Aveline_ , as it should. There was a kitchen area just inside to the right… and a common room straight ahead… and if memory served him… a door that lead to her bedroom off that to the left, and a bathing room off the living room to the right. In all, it made one big square, like most apartments he guessed. He drifted further in, having set his duffle down… he held his hands out a bit, letting them fall back to his thighs with a shrug. “I…” He turned, his boots crushing down one of her area rugs as he gave a bit of a chuckle. “I’m not sure.” He looked down at those boots, cringing at how dirty they looked in comparison to her nice clean rug, though he knew she didn’t care about that sort of thing… and that he wasn’t actually tracking anything in.

Aveline took a controlled breath… seeing him standing there… in her space was just… he made it look _small_. Malcolm always did that though, like he sucked in all the air in a room, just by being him. She smirked at his response… at his… almost _boyish_ response. When he looked back at her, from under his brows, having not lifted his face to her entirely. He looked almost… apologetic. She hadn’t realized she’d drifted closer until she felt his finger tuck into the belt of her robe… she flushed deeply… looking down at that connection and then back at him, and the heat that was steadily sinking into his eyes. “So… that’s why you’re here.” She said quietly, a certain note of disappointment in her tone. She hadn’t seen him in _that_ way since the night she’d spoken to him on his porch.

Malcolm shook his head slow at her words, stepping closer to her, closing the space between them. “No.” He admitted. Apparently, he’d come here for a reason, though he hadn’t known it until now. “Well…” He glanced away bashfully for a moment before looking back at her, softening his eyes through no thought of his own. “Not entirely.” He admitted again. He reached with his other hand, making that move again… drawing near her cheek, thumb brushing the freckled skin… his eyes flowing over her features, settling on her lips, his own tingling. “I didn’t want to leave any unfinished business behind me.” Before she could turn away or deny him this… he dipped down, settling his lips over hers, covering the sharp gasp she gave. His hand slipped around and gripped the back of her nape, fingers tangling in her hair as his other arm wrapped around her, pulling her against him.

Aveline felt… near frozen under that look. He’d given her… heated looks… near feral in their intensity before. But this? This… near _tenderness_ … was foreign. And too… too personal… she… her thoughts scattered when he kissed her. She gasped, her eyes fluttering… he was just… _there_. She heard him take in a deep breath through his nose… her own flooded with his scent. Her hands clutched his shoulders, holding onto him as he licked at the seam of her lips, silently begging for more. Maker help her… she gave it. She let him in… and her knees went weak as he kissed her, _really_ kissed her. And he could _kiss_. He kissed the way a man should… she felt it in every part of her body… she moaned, her hips pressing against him as her body desperately wanted more of him. His hand flew down, gripping her rear and pulling her tighter against him, she felt him growing between them… Maker, she wanted him with a fever, every sweep of his tongue… every time he pivoted, changing the kiss, she felt her body heating, her center starting to tingle and tighten for him. She ran her hands up to his collar, tugging at his coat, pulling it off his shoulders.

Malcolm was… lost… so quickly. Maker… he swallowed down the sweet moan she gave him. He tore his coat off entirely, desperate to feel her hands on him… he reached between them, splitting her robe… sliding his hands beneath the satiny feel of it… wrapping around her, hands gripping her intimately as he lifted, hoisting her up, feeling her wrap her legs around his waist, her hair falling over his face had him pull her center against his aching groin, he was already so damned hard for her. He felt her hands on his cheek… his jaws… his neck… he nearly stumbled backwards from the force of it all. He opened his eyes just long enough to locate her room, luckily her door was open. Committed to memory, grateful for that trait, he carried her to her bed. A moment later, he was nearly falling onto it, taking her down with him, covering her. His lips nearly glued to hers as he worked the buttons on his shirt, jerking it off a moment later… cursing the undershirt he’d decided to wear. He felt her fingers working his belt buckle… he broke the kiss just long enough to pull his shirt off, tossing it aside. The moment he threw it, the first wave went out… he swallowed, trying to reign himself in… the candles in the room having been blown out. He looked down at her, saw her eyes flare. “Sorry…” He breathed, capturing her lips a moment later, hungrily tasting her, his tongue sliding against hers, his whole body surging when he felt his belt tug free. He set the toe of his boot to the heel of his other, weight on his knees, and started kicking… grateful beyond measure for pull on boots. It took a moment but soon, two distinct thuds sounded as his boots hit her floor… his buckle jingling as he wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her further up onto the bed, swallowing down her moan of approval. She was damn near bare under that robe of hers… he pawed at her small shift of a shirt, tugging at it… having to break the kiss again to pull it off of her… tangling with the robe had him growling with frustration, had her giving a soft laugh at him… music… it was blessed music to his ears. He settled his weight on his knees… a moment later, he was tearing her unders off of her as well. He wet his lips, rolling them as he looked down at her, a small smile tugging at him… a softness to his gaze that he’d held back before. He worked the button on his pants… tugged them down… unders to follow… shifted his weight, kicked them off, covered her again, found her lips again. He couldn’t stop kissing her.


	5. Chapter 5

Aveline was… she didn’t even know! He was… as if she was seeing him for the first time. He was… she realized, he was without barriers. She _was_ seeing _him_. She reached up, tugging the ties from his hair, feeling the thick chocolate waves fall down, she tangled her fingers in them, feeling his whole body seem to respond. His hands roamed, his hold firm and sure… that _wave_ of whatever that had come out of him… she knew it was his magic… he had apologized but… she wasn’t afraid. She knew he’d never hurt her… not with that. He was always so careful with that. He broke the kiss, she gasped for air, holding him against her, she felt his stubble scrape her cheek as he slid his kiss further down, to her neck… she felt him kissing her there. He was… doing what a lover did. She ran her hand down the center of his back, feeling the muscles move under her touch… he nibbled on her, nipped, sucked lightly, knowing he was being careful not to leave a mark… it still had her body weeping for him. She wanted him to touch her… desperately, her body was screaming for it. She could feel his rigid length against her thigh, so close yet so far away… her hips rising up to him, wanting him, her center aching for him.

Malcolm wanted to mark her so badly… wanted to make a dark mark, wanted everyone to see it, to know he put it there. Those thoughts were… dangerous, at best. He moved down her body instead, wrapping his lips around one of her pale pink nipples, pulling at it, suckling upon it eagerly, feeling her nails scrape over his scalp as she cried out, her back arching off the bed. He framed her ribs with his hands, feeling her strong body move. He flicked her nipple rapidly, had her writhing beneath him… he slid his lips over to her other breast, cupping the one he’d left, holding her firmly as he repeated the process… he was on his way down her abdomen when he felt her hands tighten in his hair. He looked up at her when he was lower down between her legs… lips poised over her beautiful center. She was… flushed and… “Beautiful.” He managed, his tenor ragged, his cock aching, twitching and throbbing, weeping profusely for her. He saw her lips part, her pupils blow wide with arousal… he dipped down, kissing her intimately, another thing he’d yet to do. She damn near _screamed_ for him, he moaned in approval, she writhed further. He tasted her desperately, his tongue swirling around her folds, learning every sweeping angle, every twist and turn. He slid it into her, feeling her body try to grip him, he held onto her hips, felt her trying to move… her hands in his hair… she was… so beautiful. He flattened his tongue over that tight bundle of nerves before he suckled upon it gently, she keened, crying out as she trembled. He watched her intently… holding her gaze as he rolled his tongue over it in a steady rhythm... his hips begging to move, his cock hanging in the air for how his stance was. She moaned almost continuously… he watched as she couldn’t help but throw her head back… her hands holding fast to his hair… he groaned with her… vibrating her… his groin tightening and ebbing… he wanted her so badly. But he wanted to taste her release. He pressed against her more firmly, her cry went higher pitched, she twisted, he held her against him as he flicked that bundle faster. A moment later, she cried out his name… he growled low, eyes closing as he dove down and swallowed down her release, feeling her center throb and twitch, feeling the rhythm he knew felt so good around him. His cock kicked wildly, his groin burning with need. He pulled away, snatching the sheet and wiping his face before he climbed up her body, lips slack, eyes locked on her as he did. He settled, lips finding hers immediately, a messy reckless kiss given, bisected by a nod as he crowded her. He took her hand… laced their fingers and pinned it to the bed just above their heads but off to the side, his other arm went down, his hand holding her thigh, lifting her leg as he tested, his cock seeking her out without guidance. He trembled and shook, breaking the kiss with a nod when he found her, the prominent head of himself sliding between her folds, he shifted his hips, feeling himself slide down until he caught the edge of her opening. His nose brushed against hers as he rolled his hips forward, sliding into her slowly. His tenor broken when he spoke low as he entered her. “Aveline…”

Aveline stared up at him… the intense way he was looking at her… she’d never held his eye so much before… never seen his face when he entered her. He looked like he was holding back so much… his pupils were lit, rolling with leashed power, the light was… beautiful. The way he uttered her name, the way he could hardly speak… she felt him fill her up entirely, as he always did… and on the heels of the orgasm he’d already given her? She was… damn. She gripped his hand tighter, feeling his own grip mimic hers. Her other hand was on his back, feeling the muscles move… his lips shadowed hers as he seated entirely. She kissed him briefly, a subtle nod… feeling him inside of her was like nothing ever before. In the beginning, she couldn’t help but compare… and Malcolm was… thick… and long but not so long that it hurt, just barely though. The feeling of him was… her body held onto him desperately, she watched as he trembled, the way he tried desperately to hold onto that magic of his. “Show me… all of you…” She breathed.

Malcolm shook his head slightly at her words… his hips tight as he held into her. “I can’t…” He breathed back, starting to withdraw from her. “But I’ll show you what I can…” He said roughly… his eyes blooming over… his hips starting to swing as he fell into a blessed rhythm… his skin lighting with a golden hue, stray wisps of magic glowing in the air around them… the candles in her entire apartment being forced out as a nameless wind fluttered through the spaces. “To show you all… of me…” He breathed, feeling her roll over his length… the way her body held him so perfectly… had his eyes fluttering. “And what you’re doing to me…” He bowed his head as he felt her claw at his back. “Would tear this building down.” He growled low, his hips snapping, the wisps around them flashing brilliantly for that moment.

Aveline looked at him… he was… beautiful. His eyes… rolled with power… she felt it in the air, in her… in everywhere he touched her… the room glowed in a way that was… well… magical. His confession… she felt… wow. She couldn’t help but moan at the way he forced his way in… she loved it when he did that. She gave a subtle nod… “Let’s not do that…” She jested with a bit of a laugh, a laugh that was quickly overtaken by another moan.

Malcolm smirked and nodded… driving into her again… watching as her eyes fluttered, as she moaned for him. He couldn’t… follow a conversation anymore. He fell into a rhythm that spoke of how he felt… he withdrew slow… but drove himself back into her hard… the wisps flaring brightly each time as did he. He quickly fell into a hasty rhythm of doing just that… she held onto him… he drove her further… felt her tightening around him. He nodded again… “Come for me…” He breathed, desperate to feel her. “Say my name…” He breathed against her lips… his tenor cracking as he moved, he felt her hold him tighter everywhere. He trapped his own voice each time he hit. She keened, twisted, quivered… a moment later, he felt her tighten almost painfully around him… “Say it…” He could barely make his voice work… he clawed at her thigh, his knees sliding as he moved faster for her, drove deeper… hit that spot he knew… she went wonton, her head thrown back as she cried out… his name falling from her lips like rain. He closed his eyes, bowing his head as relief flooded him… pride quick to follow, a smile tugging at him… feeling her body pull him in deeper, draw him in, coax him towards his own end. He started moving faster… his pace quickened, hastened… he crowded her as he tended to do… his hips snapping faster… he had to brace his weight, lifting off of her… his hand still holding her own. He fisted her sheets with his free hand, his lower back swinging… his thighs starting to tremble. He felt her hand on his hips, his abdomen… his side… his chest… his jaw… he turned, kissed her palm, nibbled at her fingers as he felt his groin grow heavy. “Please…” He breathed.

Aveline looked up at him… he was magnificent… working towards completion… the plea in his eyes as he uttered that word. He’d… for months they’d been… and he’d never… he wouldn’t ask if she was… but still. He looked down at her so intently… she felt him growing harder, reaching further… his thrusts growing surer. He was getting close. _Please… Aveline…_ he breathed, his tenor breaking, ragged… she pulled at the back of his neck, drawing him down to her… she nodded before she kissed him.

Malcolm kissed her with abandon, his hips stuttering as he drew near… he was… he couldn’t believe he was going to… he had to break the kiss, gasping for air. “Oh god…” He managed… he set his brow to hers, his jaw clinched as he moved, desperate, demanding… intent, purposeful… everything male within him requiring nothing short of him driving in as deep as he could as everything drew up tight. “Oh fuck…” He threw his head back, a groan twisting out of him as he felt himself loose. “Aveline…” He moaned her name, his hips locking as his thighs quivered… he cried out as he felt her tighten around him, douse him again, cry out his name… hold onto him, he all but fell down onto her, feeling each rush of himself given to her. He surged atop her, his hand gripping her thigh, pulling her against him, sliding up behind her, pushing her lower back closer to him, his knee lifting, locking them together, his other hand shaking as he held hers tighter. “Take… all of me…” He managed, the wisps glowing brightly, his own skin flaring… wave after wave going out of him, papers in her room fluttering, the oil lamp on the side table clattering as it fell over, glass shattering…

Aveline was still trying to catch her breath when Malcolm rolled off of her gingerly, he landed roughly, sagging down into the mattress with a heavy breath. It was eerily dark in the room now that there was no light… from him or otherwise. She wondered for a moment… would he leave now… that wonder ceased when she felt him wrap an arm around her and pull her in against him. For awhile she didn’t say anything, she knew he was awake… she couldn’t stand it anymore. “What does this mean…”

Malcolm was… wondering the same thing. But since she asked him… he sighed heavily and set his lips to her shoulder before moving to put his chin there and speaking. “I’d be your lover… if you’d let me.” He felt her go quiet… even more than before. “Don’t answer now… wait until I get back. Take the time to think… you know I come with a shit ton of baggage… and some of that baggage includes Wesley.” He even felt wrong saying that name right now but it was what it was. He existed, he wasn’t going to act like he didn’t.

Aveline nodded, turning to look at his dark shadow… she lifted a hand set it to his cheek. “Okay… but you have to come back.” She said low.

Malcolm nodded slightly. “I will.” He smirked when she turned back over, settling down to sleep, her voice muffled when she said _you better_. He settled down as well… taking a deep breath. He didn’t intend to fall asleep… he did have work to do in the quarter.

Malcolm woke up slowly and then all at once… he blinked at his strange surroundings before the night came back in a rush. He looked over at Aveline’s bare back… he couldn’t help but soften his expression as he let his eyes flow over her freckled skin.


End file.
